Trying Something New and Lovin' It

I just started a new Bible Study this week that I'm really excited about.  First some honest admissions:

1. I have done a few Bible Studies in my life, and they've been very meaningful to me, but they've also been very overwhelming too.  
2. I read a lot, but I need help reading my Bible everyday.

So, I am journeying through 1 John with a group of ladies (some of them I know and some of them I don't) with the guidance of goodmorninggirls.org.  Thanks Kim and Deb for the encouragement to give it a try!  Another something new is that this post is a blog link-up with other ladies doing the same thing in collaboration with their GMG groups.

I'm new at this and only have a few days in, but here is how it works...

We read ONE verse in 1 John each day.  Now, I can totally handle one verse a day.  I can even handle really looking at in depth.  We are all on the same reading schedule together.  At the end of the semester we'll have read all of 1 John.  GMG encourages using the SOAP method, so that's what I'm doing.  SOAP stands for Scripture, Observations, Applications, and Prayers.  I write these things done in my little notebook.  Then I email the ladies in my group with one or more of my observations or applications on today's verse.  They also do the same for me at some point throughout the day.  These messages hold me accountable, but they are also such a blessing.  It is so cool to pull so much out of one verse and really let it sink in all day long. 

So 1 John has already really got my attention.  In yesterday's reading I was reminded that Jesus does appear to us in different ways and at different times. Yes, it's not the same as when he walked the earth (God in a bod!), but we can still today "see" Jesus. We must not forget that. When we are filled up by Him and we realize that, we just can't help ourselves. We too need to proclaim and testify how good He is. It is my prayer you hear me doing that through this post today.  Blessings to you!

No More Nursery

Brighton has graduated from nursery at our church, and he now goes to Sunday School during our service.  He was a bit uncertain the first week, but when we saw him a bit later he was absolutely glowing.  This morning I heard him say to his teacher, "I'm back!" 

Garden Good Times

Saturday was all about fruits and vegetables for us.  We started by picking strawberries and raspberries just up the road at Bowermans.

 Then we headed out to the "Cucko Ahma's" garden where we picked a bunch of stuff...squash, peppers, corn, potatoes, and pumpkins.

Speaking of gardens, mine is still producing stuff too, but it is slowing down.  I still have a bunch of green tomatoes that are supposed to turn red at some point, so I'm hoping that we have a bit more warm weather for that to happen. 

Our Little Painter

Brighton is REALLY into painting lately.  I love that he is so excited about it, but honestly the major mess is enough to drive me crazy.  Painting is something he does end up doing much more with Daddy, and that is more than fine with me. 

Speaking of major messes, while Bright and Jon were cleaning and waxing one of our cars, Brighton thought they shouldn't stop there.  He painted his swing set with car wax!  Jon missed it all before it was too late, and they had to power wash in order to get the wax off.  

Brighton the Painter

Brighton's Three Year Pics

Thanks again of course to Walcott Imaging for a great photo session this summer.  Brighton had a blast and forgot most of the time he was getting his picture taken.  It doesn't get much better than playing with Uncle Bobby.

You can check out Brighton's Three Year Pics Here.

Back to School 2011

This is my ninth year hitting the high school classroom.  Whoa...time flies.
I'm thrilled to report I'm not the only one going to school this year.  Brighton is going to a preschool program at Lakewood Elementary of West Ottawa Public Schools.  We're starting out with two days a week.  He was super excited this morning, and he had an awesome day.  I wanted to hear lots of stories, but it is hard to get all of the details I wanted to hear out of a three year old.  He did tell us he had chicken nuggets for lunch and about his two friends one of which is his teacher.  He played outside, and he has his own locker.  Oh, and they have trains at school.  Yippee!  Back-to-School-2011 is here and we're lovin' it. 

Walcott Family Poem

Three plus one equals four.

The Walcott family is having one more.

The middle of February is the time we'll grow,

But Lindsay is already starting to show.

There may be a question that comes to your mind:

Should the Walcotts have a girl or a boy this time?

But oh, we actually already know.

Last week the doctor gave us a show.

We saw the cute little toes on her feet.

That's right, a little girl we are excited to meet.

Pics of Pickin' Peaches

We definitely have a annual tradition on our hands. Pickin' peaches is easy, fun, and a huge savings (only 70 cents a pound). Oh, and they are sooo good!

The Gardens

As summer comes to a close, we tried to squeeze in all the fun we could. We were invited to Meijer Gardens with some family members, so Bright and I excitedly joined in on the fun. My garden has been pretty successful this year, but going here makes anything you do in your garden look like a joke. My tomatoes aren't in yet, but tomatoes there were still coming in too. That made me feel a bit better, but as of a couple days ago my tomatoes still weren't even orange...just big and green. Oh well, I may be ripening a bunch of tomatoes inside my house. Enough about my lacking tomatoes...clearly not the focus of our trip. Meijer Gardens has a lot to see and do, and even special stuff for the little ones. We had a great time. Here are a couple pics from our day...